1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to stamped and formed electrical connectors and to terminals or contacts that are used in those connectors. More particularly, this invention is related to box receptacle contacts or terminals and to means for preventing damage to compliant cantilever spring beams used in those terminal to generate a mating contact force between the terminal and a mating blade or pin terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stamped and formed box receptacle contacts or terminals are commonly used in applications such as automotive electrical systems to establish contact with pins or blades extending from a printed circuit board header or with other male terminals. These prior art stamped and formed box receptacles typically have sidewalls formed upwardly from a base with top wall extending from the sidewalls being formed inwardly to enclose a box receptacle portion of a terminal. A spring, generally in the form of a cantilever beam is formed from the base and when a male terminal is inserted between the cantilever beam and the top of the box contact section, deflection of the cantilever beam generates a mating force. Although the primary contact point can be on the top portion of these prior art terminals, it is the deflection of the cantilever beam that generates sufficient contact force to establish a reliable connector between the receptacle terminal and the blade. In other prior art terminals, the primary contact point is on the cantilever beam.
Many prior art receptacle terminals of this type are used in molded connector housings in which a molded latch extension is deflected as the terminal is inserted into a corresponding housing cavity. The molded latch extension then returns to a neutral position engaging a surface on the terminal to serve as a primary terminal latch. However, if the cantilever beam on the terminal is exposed, it can be damaged during insertion of the terminal into the housing. This problem can impose a lower limit on the strength of an exposed cantilever beam and can pose problems in generating the proper contact force without unduly increasing the mating force for multiposition connectors. For this reason reversely formed cantilever beams employed on some prior art terminals generally have relatively compliant beam sections that are not exposed on the exterior of the housing. However, for a relatively compliant beam, prior art connectors of this type generally employ relatively long beams located on the interior of the box receptacle. These long beams can, however, result in a primary contact point on the beam being spaced well back from the forward end of the terminal, in which case the terminal is only suitable for use with relatively long male terminals or blades.